The present invention relates to a winch of a lashing rope used for fastening cargo onto a truck, more particularly a winch, which can be operated for stretching the lashing rope by means of moving a lever to and fro, and which is provided with such a handle that it can be assembled and operated relatively easily.
Referring to FIG. 9, a conventional winch of a lashing rope used for fastening cargo onto a truck includes a support base 31, a pair of operating levers 32, turning rods 33, an engaging plate 34, ratchets 35, and engaging member 36, and a handle 37.
The support base 31 has two parallel lateral plates (not numbered), a connecting rod 311 connected to outer ends of the lateral plates, and a holding protrusion 313 fixedly disposed between the lateral plates. The lateral plates have opposing pivotal holes at inner ends thereof and slots 312 that are opposite each other.
The turning rod 33 is turnably passed through the pivotal holes of the support base 31. The turning rod 33 has a lengthwise formed elongated gap 331 for allowing a rope to be connected thereto. The ratchet 35 is connected to a respective end of the turning rod 33.
The operating levers 32 are connected to the turning rod 33 at inner ends thereof. The operating levers 32 have slots 321 that are opposite each other. The handle 37 is connected to the outer ends of the operating levers 32.
The engaging member 36 is movably fitted to the operating levers 32, and is biased by an elastic member (not numbered) so that an engaging plate portion 361 thereof engages the teeth of the ratchets 35; two ends of the engaging plate portion 361 stick out through the slots 321 of levers 32. The engaging plate 34 is movably fitted to the support base 31 with two ends thereof sticking out through the slots 312 of the base 31. The engaging plate 34 has a rod portion 342. and an elastic member 343; the elastic member 343 is secured to the holding protrusion 313 of the base 31 at one end, and the rod portion 342 is passed into other end of the elastic member 343 so that the engaging plate 34 is biased towards the ratchets 35 to engage the same at an engaging portion 341 thereof.
In using the winch, a first rope is connected to the truck and the connecting rod 311 at two ends. And, a second rope is connected to the opposite side of the truck and the turning rod 33 at tow ends, and is passed over the cargo on the truck. Thus, the ropes are stretched to fasten the cargo tightly onto the truck by means of moving the handle 37 to and fro to wind the second rope around the turning rod 33. To loosen the ropes, both the engaging member 36 and the engaging plate 34 are moved away from the ratchets 35 to disengage same so that the ratchets 35 and the turning rod 33 can turn in the opposite direction.
Referring to FIG. 10, the handle 37 is provided with connecting ends 371 that have semi-circular shape, while the outer ends of the operating levers 32 are provided with semi-circular holes 322 so that the connecting ends 371 can fit in the holes 322. The connecting ends 371 are passed through the holes 322, and are then struck into a flat shape so that the handle 27 is firmly connected to the levers 32.
The winch of a lashing rope is found to have disadvantages as followings:
1. It costs relatively much labor to strike the connecting ends 371 of the handle 37 into a flat shape for firmly connecting the handle 37 to the levers 32. Consequently, the manufacturing cost is increased.
2. In order for the ends to be able to be struck into flat shape, the handle 37 has to be made of metallic materials. Consequently, the style, design and colors the handle can be presented with are limited to a great degree.
Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a handle to the above winch of a lashing rope that can be easily fitted in position, and can be made to have various shapes and colors to be attractive.
It is another object of the present invention to provide luminous substance to the handle so that people can easily find the handle in the dark when the winch is used on a truck.